Seb Long
@seb-long.bsky.social
MD at Player Research. Inspiring creatives and empowering gamedev leaders with research that makes great games.
BAFTA. IGDA. A11y.
BAFTA. IGDA. A11y.
Reposted by Seb Long
Games User Research Lesson I find myself repeating often:
Not all players want to play ‘optimally’.
No amount of tutorializing or encouragement will convince them to engage in your cool combat system. Either allow for a ‘punch everything’ strategy or accept that those players will churn.
Not all players want to play ‘optimally’.
No amount of tutorializing or encouragement will convince them to engage in your cool combat system. Either allow for a ‘punch everything’ strategy or accept that those players will churn.
it does not matter how good you make your game’s block/parry system; I will not use it. My defense is “punch more.” I cannot be taught
July 24, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Games User Research Lesson I find myself repeating often:
Not all players want to play ‘optimally’.
No amount of tutorializing or encouragement will convince them to engage in your cool combat system. Either allow for a ‘punch everything’ strategy or accept that those players will churn.
Not all players want to play ‘optimally’.
No amount of tutorializing or encouragement will convince them to engage in your cool combat system. Either allow for a ‘punch everything’ strategy or accept that those players will churn.
Reposted by Seb Long
Given recent conversations in the industry, I wanted to highlight some amazing organizations, resources, and community-driven groups working hard to advance accessibility in gaming. There’s a lot of great work happening — and it deserves more visibility.
A thread ♿️♥️
A thread ♿️♥️
May 13, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Given recent conversations in the industry, I wanted to highlight some amazing organizations, resources, and community-driven groups working hard to advance accessibility in gaming. There’s a lot of great work happening — and it deserves more visibility.
A thread ♿️♥️
A thread ♿️♥️
Reposted by Seb Long
From inclusive design consultancy to training, testing and user research, our Advancing Accessibility team is here to help you break down barriers and empower more players to engage with your games. Email our team on hello@playerresearch.com to set up a meeting at GDC or beyond! #Accessibility #A11y
March 11, 2025 at 11:02 AM
From inclusive design consultancy to training, testing and user research, our Advancing Accessibility team is here to help you break down barriers and empower more players to engage with your games. Email our team on hello@playerresearch.com to set up a meeting at GDC or beyond! #Accessibility #A11y
Reposted by Seb Long
Dive in with us to talk about barriers to female players, representation in games, and the importance of inclusive playtesting for game dev! An important topic for every day, but especially for International Women's Day. #IWD25
What Issues Are Impacting Female Gamers and the Industry Itself?
Let's talks about where female players are still excluded from games and how we can help to create more inclusive experiences during game development and playtesting.
www.playerresearch.com
March 7, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Dive in with us to talk about barriers to female players, representation in games, and the importance of inclusive playtesting for game dev! An important topic for every day, but especially for International Women's Day. #IWD25
Reposted by Seb Long
fix their hearts or die
November 11, 2024 at 12:51 PM
fix their hearts or die
Reposted by Seb Long
5 tongue-in-cheek game writing exercises that are a more realistic representation of what most game writers do (in my experience) than a branching dialog tree:
January 14, 2025 at 5:57 PM
5 tongue-in-cheek game writing exercises that are a more realistic representation of what most game writers do (in my experience) than a branching dialog tree:
Reposted by Seb Long
Some talks that I have given:
Reward in games (without the dopamine neurotrash): youtu.be/xkg9ocYDLr8?...
Human Error and game design: youtu.be/JyuR2fKvQ20?...
What road safety can teach us about reducing toxicity in games: youtu.be/WMYoCuZ3Fa8?...
Reward in games (without the dopamine neurotrash): youtu.be/xkg9ocYDLr8?...
Human Error and game design: youtu.be/JyuR2fKvQ20?...
What road safety can teach us about reducing toxicity in games: youtu.be/WMYoCuZ3Fa8?...
Throwing Out the Dopamine Shots: Reward Psychology Without the Neurotrash
YouTube video by GDC 2025
youtu.be
January 3, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Some talks that I have given:
Reward in games (without the dopamine neurotrash): youtu.be/xkg9ocYDLr8?...
Human Error and game design: youtu.be/JyuR2fKvQ20?...
What road safety can teach us about reducing toxicity in games: youtu.be/WMYoCuZ3Fa8?...
Reward in games (without the dopamine neurotrash): youtu.be/xkg9ocYDLr8?...
Human Error and game design: youtu.be/JyuR2fKvQ20?...
What road safety can teach us about reducing toxicity in games: youtu.be/WMYoCuZ3Fa8?...
Reposted by Seb Long
Reposted by Seb Long
Check out this video interview I had with Gamereactor! "Audio Accessibility in Star Wars Outlaws" www.gamereactor.eu/video/714833...
Innovating Audio Accessibility in Star Wars Outlaws - Interview with Jennissary of Descriptive Audio Works
Ahead of The Game Awards, we sat down with Jenna to talk about the work done on improving Star Wars Outlaws' accessibility and accessibility in gaming as a whole.
www.gamereactor.eu
December 12, 2024 at 4:50 PM
Check out this video interview I had with Gamereactor! "Audio Accessibility in Star Wars Outlaws" www.gamereactor.eu/video/714833...
Reposted by Seb Long
Every museum should have a Little Guys Tour, and at the end of the tour you can buy reproductions of all the little guys
December 11, 2024 at 9:20 PM
Every museum should have a Little Guys Tour, and at the end of the tour you can buy reproductions of all the little guys
Reposted by Seb Long
As a producer, I totally agree. And everyone knows it as well - even the publishers. But we rather lie to them/ourselves and possibly burn out trying to stick to a timeline made up 3+ years ago. I was gonna write a similar thread about it, too.
December 12, 2024 at 9:23 AM
As a producer, I totally agree. And everyone knows it as well - even the publishers. But we rather lie to them/ourselves and possibly burn out trying to stick to a timeline made up 3+ years ago. I was gonna write a similar thread about it, too.
Found out that my personal website contact form has been jettisoning emails into the ether for the last couple months, at the least. Terribly sorry if I haven't gotten back to you — do try again?
December 8, 2024 at 5:24 PM
Found out that my personal website contact form has been jettisoning emails into the ether for the last couple months, at the least. Terribly sorry if I haven't gotten back to you — do try again?
Reposted by Seb Long
Did you know about @wecanfixitinui.com ? The community of 1,900+ members working in Games UI, UX and UR who've amassed easily the biggest collection of resources for folks looking to start a career in the field or learn something new.
Go check it out!
wecanfixitinui.com
Go check it out!
wecanfixitinui.com
December 2, 2024 at 3:21 PM
Did you know about @wecanfixitinui.com ? The community of 1,900+ members working in Games UI, UX and UR who've amassed easily the biggest collection of resources for folks looking to start a career in the field or learn something new.
Go check it out!
wecanfixitinui.com
Go check it out!
wecanfixitinui.com
Reposted by Seb Long
We're hiring: Games User Researchers in Brighton, UK and Montreal, Canada. Experienced & early-career roles. Come join our team of player research specialists, contributing to the world's best games.
➞ Details playerresearch.com/careers/
#gamedev #gamejobs #gamesUR #playerresearch
➞ Details playerresearch.com/careers/
#gamedev #gamejobs #gamesUR #playerresearch
November 25, 2024 at 11:48 AM
We're hiring: Games User Researchers in Brighton, UK and Montreal, Canada. Experienced & early-career roles. Come join our team of player research specialists, contributing to the world's best games.
➞ Details playerresearch.com/careers/
#gamedev #gamejobs #gamesUR #playerresearch
➞ Details playerresearch.com/careers/
#gamedev #gamejobs #gamesUR #playerresearch
Reposted by Seb Long
Optimist: The cup is half full.
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Games User Researcher: It was unclear that the cup was an interactive part of the environment so the majority of players missed this narrative moment
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Games User Researcher: It was unclear that the cup was an interactive part of the environment so the majority of players missed this narrative moment
November 24, 2024 at 3:46 PM
Optimist: The cup is half full.
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Games User Researcher: It was unclear that the cup was an interactive part of the environment so the majority of players missed this narrative moment
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Games User Researcher: It was unclear that the cup was an interactive part of the environment so the majority of players missed this narrative moment
Reposted by Seb Long
Games UX Research Tip:
Organize your note taking document before a test. At least put large sections into that make sense for the game (e.g. Front end, First Game, Second Game, Third game, etc)
Then make sub sections (e.g. Store, Battle Pass, Locker, Starter Island, Bus, Landing, Combat,
Organize your note taking document before a test. At least put large sections into that make sense for the game (e.g. Front end, First Game, Second Game, Third game, etc)
Then make sub sections (e.g. Store, Battle Pass, Locker, Starter Island, Bus, Landing, Combat,
November 24, 2024 at 12:48 PM
Games UX Research Tip:
Organize your note taking document before a test. At least put large sections into that make sense for the game (e.g. Front end, First Game, Second Game, Third game, etc)
Then make sub sections (e.g. Store, Battle Pass, Locker, Starter Island, Bus, Landing, Combat,
Organize your note taking document before a test. At least put large sections into that make sense for the game (e.g. Front end, First Game, Second Game, Third game, etc)
Then make sub sections (e.g. Store, Battle Pass, Locker, Starter Island, Bus, Landing, Combat,
Reposted by Seb Long
for #GamesUR folks, this is one of the most important things you can do for our industry & your peers this year.
I used the results of this survey when I was breaking into the industry to advocate for a competitive salary for myself, & continue to use it to benchmark how my pay is doing. DO IT!!!
I used the results of this survey when I was breaking into the industry to advocate for a competitive salary for myself, & continue to use it to benchmark how my pay is doing. DO IT!!!
Our annual salary survey is live! If you work in games user research, please contribute and share.
Survey: www.gamesursalarysurvey.com
Previous results: www.gamesur.com/resources/sa...
🧵 Video presentation on 2023/24 survey results in thread — but go and complete the survey first!
#gamesUR
Survey: www.gamesursalarysurvey.com
Previous results: www.gamesur.com/resources/sa...
🧵 Video presentation on 2023/24 survey results in thread — but go and complete the survey first!
#gamesUR
GamesUR Salary Survey 2024 - 2025
www.gamesURsalarysurvey.com
November 14, 2024 at 9:45 PM
for #GamesUR folks, this is one of the most important things you can do for our industry & your peers this year.
I used the results of this survey when I was breaking into the industry to advocate for a competitive salary for myself, & continue to use it to benchmark how my pay is doing. DO IT!!!
I used the results of this survey when I was breaking into the industry to advocate for a competitive salary for myself, & continue to use it to benchmark how my pay is doing. DO IT!!!
Reposted by Seb Long
My book, "The Secret Science of Games", is free on Kindle for the next two days!
Some of my favorite lines:
"In a conflict between science and fun, science should lose."
"The best data is the data you already have."
www.amazon.com/Secret-Scien...
#gamedev #UX #UXR #gamesur
Some of my favorite lines:
"In a conflict between science and fun, science should lose."
"The best data is the data you already have."
www.amazon.com/Secret-Scien...
#gamedev #UX #UXR #gamesur
Amazon.com: The Secret Science of Games eBook : Hopson, John: Kindle Store
Amazon.com: The Secret Science of Games eBook : Hopson, John: Kindle Store
www.amazon.com
November 13, 2024 at 3:46 PM
My book, "The Secret Science of Games", is free on Kindle for the next two days!
Some of my favorite lines:
"In a conflict between science and fun, science should lose."
"The best data is the data you already have."
www.amazon.com/Secret-Scien...
#gamedev #UX #UXR #gamesur
Some of my favorite lines:
"In a conflict between science and fun, science should lose."
"The best data is the data you already have."
www.amazon.com/Secret-Scien...
#gamedev #UX #UXR #gamesur
Reposted by Seb Long
Ok folks, here you go!
If you're a UX Researcher or UX Designer (or other UX specialist that posts UX-related content regularly) in video games or any other affiliated industry, and are not on this list already — please comment so that I can add you!
go.bsky.app/EoGb8YX
If you're a UX Researcher or UX Designer (or other UX specialist that posts UX-related content regularly) in video games or any other affiliated industry, and are not on this list already — please comment so that I can add you!
go.bsky.app/EoGb8YX
October 21, 2024 at 12:02 PM
Ok folks, here you go!
If you're a UX Researcher or UX Designer (or other UX specialist that posts UX-related content regularly) in video games or any other affiliated industry, and are not on this list already — please comment so that I can add you!
go.bsky.app/EoGb8YX
If you're a UX Researcher or UX Designer (or other UX specialist that posts UX-related content regularly) in video games or any other affiliated industry, and are not on this list already — please comment so that I can add you!
go.bsky.app/EoGb8YX